Oil futures slip, but gain for the week

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Oil futures settled lower Friday, easing back from gains seen in the previous session as traders gauged signs of demand from China. February crude oil
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fell 26 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $93.56 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices, which had briefly climbed past $94 on Friday, ended last week at $93.09. Traders worried that "reports of lower Saudi production might offer a glimpse of what Saudi Arabia knows -- that demand is worse than the consensus perception," said Matthew Parry, senior oil-market analyst at the International Energy Agency. There are also concerns that "today's heightened Chinese inflationary figure limits the scope for too much additional government support," which is likely what's driving the strong recent pace of Chinese oil demand growth, he said.

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